Hero Restoration

Hey Scott I was going to add that I am still experimenting with 3 piece's and was hasty to say it wasn't enough. Here is the long answer to your question. So I started out with a 8"x 12" glass piece for bottom substrate but felt I wasn't getting enough pressure. I also was given advise to use a piece of aluminum instead. This was before I started to experiment with humidity. I purchased a 1/2" thick and the entire width of the felt piece of aluminum. Now I have too much pressure and my model presses from the egde's where as yours presses from the center. I will probably switch to a smaller piece but I am not sure if I want to do that. Truth is I dont have the ideal press. Once I started experimenting with humidty I noticed it require's less pressure to remove defects. This means right not I might be using to much pressure but before I back off I have been focusing on using less humidity. I can adjust the pressure easy with backboard substrate but if the platen gets to close to the full size aluminum substrate it absorbs the heat from the top platen. The hard way to adjust is a pain if I am going to jump back and forth between dry and humid pressing . It's not neccesary to use humidity on every comic so it will be a while before I have a good system in place. So I don't know how old the felt is but now that you know the whole story you can see it's probably not the felt's fault. Everyone's feedback has been most helpful. Thanks...

Thanks Bud, I am still tweeking how many piece's to insert but I tried Scott's suggestion to use 3 in a regular comic and it still came close to pancaking. When I get a good result I will post ASAP.

I will experiment with some new stuff but I'm pretty sure it reacts to pressing different than the SA stuff. It should be more forgiving I would think. I dont collect modern but I will press for others someday and they might. (thumbs u

You dont think the SIlver Surfer I did looked pancaked? My I don't know what pancake looks like since I have not seen an example, I just assumed it's meaning.

Before After Before After Before After Before After Before After Before After

Really? I think it looks fine post-pressing. I have seen a million squarebounds with spines like that. It doesn't look mashed at all. The book still has some residual spine roll (mainly because it started out so bad), but an additional press job should take care of that. One thing you could do with squarebounds is to take a beater squarebound of roughly equal thickness and rotate it 180 degrees in the press, so that the spine is backed up to the spine of the book you want to press. That'll keep any excess pressure from compacting the spine - although, truth be told, as long as I kept my dry mount press pad in good shape, I never had a problem with pressing squarebounds without any kind of extra spine support. MCP, post up some more pics of your pressing experiments. It looked like your results improved dramatically after the last round of tweaking and I'd like to see that you're still getting good results with each book. Plus, this subform has gotten boring lately. Ask and ye shall recieve. I was hoping for another dramatic example by now but this is the best I can muster up ATM. I got to thinking about the pancake issue. I had an idea similar to your wre basicly a space was in place to protect from it pressing to far down. There seems to be allot of different thickness and then if there isn't enough pressure you don't get the wrinkles out. So I had an Idea, put the spacers in the book itself so that the cover could recieve full pressure. On the SWA #1 I sliped a piece of paper between each page. Since the spine wasn't flat after I was done I though to use less. On this MT #1 I slipped a piece of printing paper between every 4th page. Still using 170 to 175 F and humidity on outside of cover. 3 min each side then cool. Replaced mylar with cottom blotters, raised temp to 130 F and rotate every 5 min the change out blotters and repeat for an hour then let cool. I did this to make sure the book is completely dry.

I have a theory as well that I am working on but I haven't found a perfect example of a book with a really good square spine and a wrinkled cover. Will post one as soon as I discover I have such an example.

Thats what inspires me, not what profit can be made but just simply to have them look better. :insane:Thats not to say I don't want money, it's just that is not my motivation for doin it.

Less pressure could work but then you wouldn't get the cover pressed as smooth and therfore wouldn't look as good when done. So the key is to be able to use the same amount of pressure but not have book to be pressed thinner than it already is. The press compresses the book so the trick was to keep the book uner pressure but not compressed. I was going to wait till I had the perfect example but since you have brought it up here is my 1st annual that I pressed with a system to prevent it from being squished. I have a regular bound book I will post ASAP and better example's of Annual's as well.

They are equally important as one will not work without the other. page 14 has all the details and the next page has the mofifications. Also I will have new stuff to post soon showing how to avoid the "pancake" look. A detail that has been left out is an additional day under pressure between 2 cotton blotters.I have got around the pancake look even on annuals and I am just waiting for the perfect examples to post.

I would actually agee with Cheesy, the results you posted are not typical for the minimal approach you said you took. But results can vary greatly from person to person so don't take it personally. Consider the audience, we know you want to make a good showing and many are still skeptical. Keep at it and keep posting your results if you enjoy it. I will just watch from afar now because I am the poopy head who wont talk openly about what might or might not work better. I totally understand, and understand others are going to ask questions and I don't have a problem with that. If its a debate of how much humidity is being used I try to convey how much I am using but that is hard. As far as leaving out any steps I took there are none. I don't think your a poopy head Kenny, you have to do what you have to do and I appreciate what feedback you do give.

Thanks for the tips towards, I welcome the input. The sun wont work for me though as I live in Oregon. Jeewhiz Cheesewhiz, I thought my "story" was very detailed. I even showed the steamer I used. Regardless of what you and I consider to be a quick pass, I already determined my 1st attempt to be too much humidity and 2nd attempt as well and will keep trying less and less until I don't get these good results. (thumbs u Why you are not getting the same results as me I cannot say but no doubt we are doing it differently with different presses,paper, type of humid exposure, temperature ect. As my pressing positivly evolves you can count on me posting the details.

Thanks Logan, I am glad you find this process interesting. I buy allot of low grade comics that look like that so it's nice to get them looking better. Thanks for the encouraging words Kenny and yes I am having fun. I am still more interested with restoration in general but pressing is an important part of that. I haven't done that type of test yet but I have noticed when I take it out of the press the next day it is not fully dry and I have been running in my mind what I can do to fix that. I think I need to use even less humidity for one. The other idea I had was after it comes out of press is to put it between 2 blotters under pressure to grab the remaining moisture. I was thinking multiple pressings or more heat but what you just said tells me thats the wrong idea.

Thanks for the compliment. I am not sure what curl you are refering to.

Hey there, I knew it was only a matter of time before that question came up as people are curious. Taking all these photos and compiling them in a post takes me a fair amount of time. I also always seem to forget at least one before pic I should have taken. Typically I select the comics with the chance of the most dramatic change for my detailed experiments. If its examples of comics not so lucky you want to see I can dig up some of my cadavers for you. I don’t take before photos of every comic due to the amount of work that would add on my already limited amount of free time I have. Plus sometimes I’m just plain lazy.

Thanks pal and I will.

Wow, thanks Scott..

Pressing Experiment 10100101553 Ok, at the advice of Scott, I performed this experiment with less heat and humidity. I did everything the same as before except I reduced the temp to 175 F and only steamed the outside of cover and focused a little extra on the spine. Enjoy that new comic shine. My next experiment will be to try a lower temperature like 155 F.

Thanks C-mack !! your compliment is greatly appreciated. (thumbs u

I am going to edit original post to add this: I pass over the steam so fast, that paper still feels very dry. The paper is exposed to a single quick pass. Still, you have brought up an interesting point . I wasn't worried because its an experiment to help me consider issue's I wouldn't have just thought of or ones I wanted to see if it would happen. I just checked every page and they seem fine. In future test I think I will slip some Mylar between the cover and pages. I also want to add that part of my experiments is pushing the boundaries to see what can be and cannot be done. This was intentional at the extreme of moisture, pressure and heat, and I could certainly throttle back on them some. Also I want to add this was only a $6.75 comic ( I got a good deal I think) which is why I choose to take a chance on it.

Thanks for your input Scott and thanks for the compliment Mac Man. (thumbs u

Pressing Experiment 10100101550 Ok I think I have it dialed in and I am going to share it all with you. I don't know if this came out perfect, but it came out so good I have goose bumps just thinking about it. I am so excited before I begin I want to show you this example. I want you to notice in after shot how much shiner the cover is. In the before it looks matte and in after you can actually see the light fixture is so smooth. You like? I like but I know what you’re thinking. Comic is warped bad right? Well I will let you be the judge of that for that is why I post these, to get both positive and negative feedback. So let’s start at the beginning shall we? ( I do notice now there is a little warp at top edge now that I have previewed this post. ) First thing I am going to do is humidify the book. I have experimented with different methods and using SRP and have been frustrated with absolute failure. I finally settled on a hand fabric steamer to humidify the book. I pass over the steam so fast, that paper still feels very dry. The paper is exposed to a single quick pass page by page like this. Then it is time to put it in my press. One of the mistakes I was making with my press is it was getting too hot and I didn't know it because it didn't have a temp probe built into the platen. Also what was misleading was the temperature knob. You can see here it has to be calibrated and then fastened down. I went ahead and installed a temp probe into the platen. Even then I found the dial unreliable and have to manual keep it at 185 F . Here you see my press nick named by the manufacture "Fog Eyes". It’s much bigger than I need but it gets the job done. Ok so I prep the comic by putting Mylar and backboard around it like this. Next I get the Press to 185 F and then set the comic in face down, close the press and wait 2 min. Beep goes the timer, I flip it over and let it go another 2 min. After time is up, I turn on a fan to cool the press quickly. I leave it pressed the whole time. Next day I pop it out and here is what I have to show you. Now I know it looks a little pancaked, But I am much happier with the way it looks now verses before and cant wait to try this out on a higher grade book. More to come soon. Phew, that was some work. Ok I am goping to unlease this and see what happends.

I have been running a ton of experiments with Hydration, Silicon release paper and Mylar. I am putting together a comparison sheet and prepping a book for an example but I wanted to show this first just to get the topic fired up again. I think SRP is and here is why. I want you to look closely at this sample and notice the tight rows of wrinkles. This is caused by the book being slightly hydrated. Almost every book has at least a little humidity in it and the SRP is ruined on 1st use and sometimes ruins the book. These wrinkles will transfer to the book. Mylar does not do this and I also want to point out the Mylar last way longer than SRP and is much smoother and does not wrinkle. I also want to point out I think more people are using Mylar than they are letting on.

Just curious, how do you know the exact temperature of the platen? Are you metering it out using a special device or using test strips which change to a different colour when the platen achieves a specific temperature? I am using a temperate probe like the one you use to check food with. I have heard that the paper doesn't relax until it reaches 180 and any time I seem to go much below that nothing presses out. So when the Platen is at 160 I don’t get any results.

I used to use what I assume is the silicon poly film back in the 80's. Expensive but a roll was huge and would last ridiculous amounts of time. If I ever ge into this again will probably go with it as it is what I know and I really liked it. I agree with Ze-Man. Show the book out of the bag before/after. Showing the book like that tells us nothing. And one really important thing here. You say Ok, so I have been working at it hard and I think I am getting close to it coming out right and need opinions on the results. 2 min at 175 degrees or so, maybe lower - you have to KNOW. No "or so, maybe lower". While restoration is not quantum mechanics, it IS a science and you have to start being very accurate when testing as to the conditions your subject was put under. What did you do for humidification? Also, when Ze-Man asked why not take the pictures while the books were out of the bag/board you said "but I was in a hurry" - and yes, you said you would do better next time but - think about what you are doing here. Trying to regain something from a poor start - and you say you were in a hurry. It won't cut it. SLOW DOWN. Take things a step at a time. Really work on one book, with very clear images beforer and after. Really record what you did. No "175 degrees or so, maybe lower" - tell us exactly what you had the dial set to. While it seems your intentions are taking a good turn, your technique and process needs to catch up with those intentons. Take it slow. Record everything exactly. Make proper photographs. Like I say, not quantum mechanics but it IS a science. (and in Kenny's hand. an art as well!) ===swoon=== I hear you bud, it wasnt in the bag but in front of it. Even so I agree I need to be more thorough and detailed. I said 175 or so because what my dial says and what my platen say are different. When dial is set to 180 the platen was 130 I think and right now my dial is set at 225 and platen is getting to 180. I don't know if that is a defective part or its suppose to be like that. So you were pressing back in the 80's ? How long have comics been getting pressed for?